Guided Reading Book Study

 

I read several teacher blogs that are participating in a book study this summer. I've never done anything like this before, but thought I'd join in since the topic is Guided Reading. I teach Guided Reading to all of our K-6th grade Deaf/Hard of Hearing students during our Fairview Learning rotations, so I feel like there is always room for improvement. (Fairview Learning is a 5 component reading program specifically designed for Deaf/Hard of Hearing students to enhance the regular reading curriculum. Read more about how we use it here.) Plus, I have such a wide range of reading abilities and each child has very different needs. Which means I need to be able to tailor all of my Guided Reading lessons to meet their needs. This book study will help me do just that.


Chapter One was all about preparing for Guided Reading. This is an area that I worked very hard on this past year in establishing a routine and developing lots of center activities to keep the kids busy and engaged when not working with an adult during our Fairview rotations. The students have a schedule they follow throughout the 1.5 hour rotation time. This keeps us on track and keeps everyone from students to staff accountable during our Fairview time. The nice part is that we will have 6 out of 7 students that participated in our rotations last year, so it will be an easy start up in the fall.

Students that are not working one to one with an adult during this time are working on literature centers. We have a signing instructional assistant who supervises and assists the students during their center tasks. I try really hard to create independent centers, but it doesn't always work out. Some students really need a lot of assistance, no matter what the task is. 

Due to the wide range of abilities from K-6th I have to provide a  huge range of centers as well. I try and group students with similar abilities and assign them the same tasks. I record all of their centers onto a brightly colored paper that goes into their Fairview boxes. They refer to this slip throughout the week to complete their own assigned centers.

When they complete a center, the assistant checks their work and then signs off on their sheet. They then remove that number from the wall chart. This is a good visual reminder for the students and for me on who has what to complete for the week. Accountability is always a good thing.


I store all of my centers in Ziploc bags or in laminated envelopes and each is labeled with the name of the task so they can match it up against their centers list. The activities are placed into numbered boxes or baskets to make them easy to find. This is what our centers area looks like. We have a lot going on all at once, so organization is a must.

What I focused on while reading chapter one is ways to improve what I already have in place. First off, I am not using my word wall efficiently.  In fact, I'm pretty sure it was a waste of space last year. There are so many ways to improve my use of the word wall and that is something I've already been on Pinterest and TpT researching. There are so many fun things out there to help students learn and practice new words from the word wall.

The other area, that is currently non-existent is a writing center. Sure, the students go to one to one writing with the other D/HH teacher during our rotations, but I don't have a designated area in the classroom for a writing area/center. The possibilities are endless for the writing center tasks. Right now all of my centers are mobile and they take them back to their desks. I just need to find a space for it and make it a priority.

Up next, Chapter Two- Assessment.